Sheets Smith Investment Management Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after purchasing an additional 259,213 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.20 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.